D c08s02
Summary List of stories Phase I Day: Honor, Duty, And Family << chapter 7 Chapter 8 of 75 Uncertain Boundaries chapter 9 >> << previous scene Scene 2 of 2 next scene >> Location Participants Time Summary Prologue | Phase I | Phase II | Epilogue 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 Text In the early morning, Sleipnir visited with Kvasir and Twilight Sparkle, and the enormous stallion lost a little of his cheer when Luna informed him about the third shapeshifter sighting. They had talked seriously on the subject for a while as Kvasir moodily sat around, studying the pictures and photographs, and then the vine-maned earth pony had finally shaken his head and declared: "Enough, enough! To Helheim with the bad feelings, I now wish to be happy. Where is my bouncing baby nephew?" "Probably awake by now." Scrivener said after a moment, and then he and Luna had traded a look before the charcoal stallion had nodded, climbing to his hooves and carefully slipping past the others as Twilight smiled a little and Sleipnir positively beamed. Scrivener came back a few minutes later with a sleepy-looking Antares, the baby calmly sucking on his pacifier before father gently passed child to uncle, and Sleipnir laughed quietly as he grinned down at the colt before shaking his head and murmuring: "Handsome little foal. Is he not handsome, Kvasir?" Sleipnir looked pointedly at Kvasir, who gave a long, loud sigh before the god nodded, saying drolly: "Yes, Sleipnir. He is handsome." "Excellent." Sleipnir nodded firmly, smiling over at the beetroot unicorn. "We shall train thee in the ways of proper socializing yet! Now, little sister, on another pleasant note, I most heartily approve of this village of Ponyville. There are many pretty mares, many of whom I have had the delight of getting to know intimately, and I had the pleasure of getting pleasantly drunk with Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash. I believe we almost killed the poor Pegasus but Big Mac held up quite spectacularly. I am not sure how we ended up together on the magic couch bed, though, but it was all quite enjoyable." Scrivener Blooms snorted in amusement as Luna grinned slightly at her brother, while Kvasir only looked grouchily at the vine-maned stallion, saying disgustedly: "Again. Your job is to protect me while here and help me-" "I have helped and protected thee plenty!" Sleipnir complained, and then he shook his head vehemently before smiling down at the infant in his arms as Antares attempted to mimic him before burbling and giggling, kicking his rear legs a few times. "Aye, that is right, handsome child! And oh, it has been good, little sister, to catch up with Celestia, and to better know this pretty mare, Twilight Sparkle... but who all the same will not sleep with me, which is a shame." "Not for lack of trying, I assume." Luna looked amusedly at Sleipnir, who nodded seriously as Twilight only sighed and shook her head, and then the winged unicorn grinned slightly at her eyes flicked to her brother and she said kindly: "So, Sleipnir, I happened to make the acquaintance of a creature known as a 'Changeling' yesterday. Just by looking at us, it was able to take upon the forms of both myself and Scrivener Blooms. I think thou just may be able to sleep with thyself yet." Sleipnir laughed loudly at this, and then he grinned widely as he set down Antares, saying amusedly: "Now that is a delightful thought! But I wonder how accurate such a creature would be with all the details..." He looked thoughtful as Twilight slapped her forehead and Kvasir made a face, and Luna laughed before glancing down as Antares scooted over to her and pawed at her quietly, the winged unicorn smiling before she said kindly: "Pardon me, Sleipnir, I must feed my child." Luna carefully picked Antares up, setting him gently down on the bedding as she slipped up beside him, and Sleipnir watched curiously before he realized what was going on, huffing and flailing his hooves at her as he declared: "Sister, thou should do that somewhere else! I shall hear Kvasir complain all day otherwise!" "'Tis my home! I shall do this where I please." Luna retorted pompously, even as Scrivener blushed and hurried to the kitchen, and Twilight followed after a moment, looking just as embarrassed. Kvasir, meanwhile, only stared with a look of horror on his features before he spun around and hurried for the door, and Luna huffed grouchily, muttering: "Thou art all immature children." "I am still here!" Sleipnir said cheerfully, holding up a hoof, and Luna looked at him flatly before he giggled stupidly behind his hooves, adding in an entertained voice: "I never knew thou wert such an exhibitionist though, sister." A pause. "Nay, that is a lie, I did." "Go away, Sleipnir." Luna said flatly, and Sleipnir pretended to look injured before the winged unicorn rolled her eyes and asked moodily: "Does thou not have to return to Valhalla shortly?" "Aye, tomorrow." Sleipnir nodded, becoming serious again as he asked curiously: "What are thy thoughts upon this idea: I was thinking that I would take Kvasir to see the Strange Ones. I am very curious as to how he would react to these beings, and think that their odd generosity would be good for him to witness." "Art thou sure thou art not simply going to attempt to free this Changeling creature for thy sick fantasies?" Luna asked mildly, and Sleipnir gave her a flat look before she added informatively: "Scrivener Blooms refused to kiss the beast when it took upon his shape." "What? Ridiculous. I would have gladly kissed the creature." Sleipnir said immediately, then he grinned and glanced over his shoulder, adding cheerfully: "As a matter of fact, Scrivener Blooms, come here and I shall kiss thee right now!" Scrivener only grumbled from the kitchen, and Sleipnir laughed before he shook his head, returning his eyes to Luna with a smile. "But maybe there is more wisdom in that choice than one may think at first. Does thou think the Changeling carries any nasty diseases?" Luna shrugged at this, then she replied thoughtfully: "It did resemble a rather large bug in its true shape. But its cell was very clean, and rather small. That is good, yes?" Sleipnir, however, grimaced at this, leaning back and replying moodily: "Nay, the fact the creature is a bug ruins the whole thing. I have already done that once, as I am sure thou must recall." Luna snorted in amusement, and then there was silence for a few moments before Antares finally drew back from his mother with a murmur, and the winged unicorn reached down and gently propped him over one shoulder, burping the baby quietly before she set him down in front of his pile of toys. He smiled, scooting over to these and pawing through the pile, looking fascinated with the noise more than anything else before Sleipnir glanced towards Twilight as she strode back into the room and asked hesitantly: "Celestia was talking about something the other day, from the years she spent as a Valkyrie... I think the name was... Frey?" Sleipnir and Luna both looked up sharply at this, and Scrivener winced a little as well, feeling Luna's emotions roil through his mind as Twilight leaned back in surprise at the reaction, before Sleipnir leaned towards her and asked gently: "What did she tell thee, Twilight Sparkle? For thou must be special indeed for her to mention this." Twilight hesitated, blushing a little before she said finally: "I didn't... I mean, well... we were just... talking about our families. I talked about how I grew up as an only child... how I missed my parents. She said she didn't remember having... parents, exactly, but she said she had a brother. I got the feeling she wasn't talking about you, Sleipnir, and when I asked her about it, she was silent for a long time, then told me that when she was a Valkyrie, she had a twin brother named Frey. She... she talked a lot about him... once she started going, she talked for... it must have been hours." "Aye, she would have. Freya and Frey: in Asgard, one was rarely seen without the other. A god and the Queen of the Valkyries... whom certain gods often forgot was a goddess in her own right, really." Sleipnir explained kindly, his features softening as he looked up with a smile. "He was kind, and compassionate, and fortunate, and he had the most wonderful collection of artifacts fair and fancy... "But... Frey was beheaded by the Vanir. Or rather... 'twas made to look as if the Vanir killed him." Sleipnir said softly, becoming more serious now as he looked solemnly towards Twilight. "I think even blinded by misery and mourning, Freya knew back then that something was wrong... but the need for battle and revenge was singing in her blood, and the Vanir were an easy target. I know that she regrets now having given in to that desire, that vicious primal urge all warriors must contend with at one point or another... I know it as certainly as I recall how fair Brynhild saw through the ruse as well, but Odin would not listen, and Freya was too blinded by fury and despair to do anything but charge into the battle with blade drawn." He fell quiet, then shook his head and said softly: "In those old past days, the mention of Frey in that wretched time after his death, after the Vanir were crushed, and while the Aesir were floundering and infighting, would send poor sister into a tumult of rage and sorrow. I think it is a wound Celestia has always carried, even after she had forgotten who she was... but... good friend Twilight Sparkle, if she brought this up willingly with thee, then perhaps that wound has finally begun to heal." He smiled, sitting back a bit and shaking his head slowly as he looked across at Luna, who laughed quietly and nodded, sitting back and saying softly: "Aye, I recall it clearly. Many of my memories of Asgard and that far-flung past are fuzzy and indistinct, but Frey I remember. Perhaps I shall bring it up with sister, see how she reacts. I may be pummeled, though, Sleipnir, and if Celestia pummels me I may shortly be joining thee in Valhalla with Scrivener Blooms." "Aye, but I am sure Odin will promptly throw thee back down to this planet, he seems to think greatly of thee." Sleipnir said cheerfully, and Luna laughed and shook her head before the vine-maned stallion glanced over his shoulder curiously at Kvasir as the god emerged from the corridor with a frown. "Did thou swallow a bug?" "I... what?" Kvasir looked at the earth pony for a moment, and then he simply shook his head grouchily before asking finally: "Why do you talk about your lives in such a confusing way? You refer to the lives you all once lived both as separate lives, but also as if they are the same lives you're living now... when you three have very clearly long adapted to the bodies of these ponies, and all insist on calling yourselves Sleipnir, Celestia and Luna instead of by your old, true names." "That is not true, I am Luna Brynhild." Luna said pompously, raising her head proudly, and then she glanced over at Sleipnir and said kindly: "And Sleipnir's brain is too full of holes to remember more than one name for himself." "Sister, I am outraged! My brain is not full of holes!" He paused, then grinned widely, winking over at Twilight Sparkle as she winced away from him. "Unless thou means-" Kvasir cleared his throat loudly, and Sleipnir huffed even as Luna laughed before the enormous stallion shook his head quickly, saying finally: "Why does it matter? Besides, I refer to us as we were because that is what we were... but what we were is also what we are now. Only differently. Does thou understand?" "No, because that does not make any sense whatsoever." Kvasir replied irritably, looking from Sleipnir to Luna distastefully. "I don't believe either of you really know what you're talking about. I believe you're both trying to cling to what is and maintain what isn't." "Now who speaks in riddles?" Sleipnir asked dryly, and Luna gave her brother an amused look as Scrivener came back in from the kitchen with the coffee carafe, refilling Luna and Sleipnir's mugs before the enormous earth pony smiled across at Kvasir. "Some things one does not think through, friend. Some things, instead, one may only feel to understand the answer." "That is a weak answer." Kvasir said grumpily, and then he shook his head before sighing when Sleipnir only grinned at him. "I don't want to hear it. Are we leaving shortly?" Sleipnir only rolled his eyes at this, and then Twilight leaned forwards, speaking up quietly: "Why are you in such a rush to go, Kvasir? Haven't you liked it here? I mean, you seemed really interested in the books in the library." Kvasir looked moodily over at the violet mare, and then he shook his head briefly before saying irritably: "Don't you have somewhere else to be, mortal? Why is it that you're always out here, anyway? I thought your allegiance was to Freya, not Brynhild." Twilight shifted a little at this as Scrivener and Luna both looked flatly at Kvasir, but the god only grumbled as he looked back and forth at the other ponies: he had at least learned to pick up on emotional cues, but that was likely only because he'd apparently pissed off Pinkamena earlier in the week to the point she had walloped him across the face and knocked him out. Thus the god had quickly learned that while ponies could be pushed... pushing them too far would not result in pleasant things. Finally, the violet mare smiled a little, answering quietly: "I am close to Celestia, but why does that mean I can't be close to Luna, too? If anything, I think... I'm closer to Luna and Scrivener. But they're all like... family to me." "Like family? We are family, and I include myself in that, Twilight Sparkle." Sleipnir said firmly, smiling over at her warmly as he nodded once, then he gazed affectionately towards where Antares was half-curled up, pawing at a stuffed manticore toy and half-asleep as he burbled quietly. "Kvasir, life is not a game of sides, nor is it about aligning thyself with the benefactor whom is most useful to thou at the time. It is about making friends, finding thy family – for family is not always something one is born with – and simply living. Now tell me, Kvasir, when is the last time thou lived?" "Can we just go?" Kvasir asked grouchily again, and Sleipnir groaned and threw his hooves up in disgust before the god shook his head, muttering: "I don't know what I'm supposed to learn here. This world makes no sense. It's completely the opposite of everything that... that..." He frowned suddenly, quieting as he looked down, and for a moment the other ponies only regarded him curiously before he silently shook his head and turned around, storming off towards the doorway. For a few moments, Sleipnir looked after him, and then he grouchily waved a hoof and said flatly: "Bah, I have no patience for the cryptic creature today! To more important matters, including a matter of heated debate. Twilight, would thou kiss a Changeling if it took upon the same form and shape as thyself?" Twilight only looked flatly at Sleipnir as Luna giggled a little and Scrivener sighed, but the vine-maned stallion only looked seriously back at the violet mare, as if this was a topic worthy of intense, serious discussion. But all the same, it was part of the earth pony's odd charm: mostly because, as Twilight was beginning to understand, it wasn't so much the actual answers that interested him. It was the smiles and entertainment his teasing was almost always rewarded with... although the violet mare couldn't help but wish that he would go back to teasing Scrivener instead of her. Category:Transcript Category:Story